February Update: Congreso in Panama

What an awesome month! As you know, I am the Director of Operations in Campus Crusade Latin America and the Caribbean. My area includes administration and finance, fund development, technology, measurements, legal and communications. With 26 national ministries all trying to serve their local staff in these areas, we saw the need to bring all of our staff and employees in Operations from all over the continent for vision, training and fellowship. Our task, very simply, is to provide the services for our ministries to be able to double and triple in size in the coming few years, reaching thousands with the Gospel of Jesus.

We met together in Panama City, a beautiful city in the very center of Latin America. We challenged our staff to dream big as they consider their ministries in the year 2020. I gave them the assignment to write a fictional news story from November 30, 2020 describing their ministry. Their dreams went way beyond mine. Here is a sample of the 2020 dreams:

… The new systems have enabled Mexico since last year to send 100 missionaries per year to other countries in LAC.

… From Peru: these new staff members were trained to reach 15 indigenous areas where 15 non-Spanish dialects are spoken. We are now seeing active ministries in each of these areas.

My job, together with the team God has raised up for Operations in our area, is to continue to coach and develop these national leaders so that they are able to multiply themselves in the lives of others so that we will really see growth in movements of evangelism and discipleship!

What’s next on the calendar?

February 24-26 National Leaders conference in San Jose

February 26-March 11 Back to Oregon. Jeanie has continued to suffer from back pain and we will be going back to Oregon for a complete work up there.

March 18-22 Washington, D.C. to meet a new grandson.

March 23-26 Caribbean National Leadership Conference.

Praises:

VERY successful Congreso in Panama for our Operations people from throughout Latin America.

Our residence visas in Costa Rica were approved! A few more details ahead, including registering with Costa Rica Social Security. (Oh yes, we will begin paying taxes in Costa Rica)

Prayer requests:

Please pray for a definite diagnosis and treatment plan for Jeanie when we go to Oregon.

Please pray for our daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Dustin, as they expect a new baby boy in the next couple of weeks. Pray for a safe delivery and a healthy baby.

Please pray for our son Andrew as he finishes his sophomore year at University of Florida and plans a summer of missions in Bolivia. Pray that God will use him in a mighty way.

In San Jose, things are moving ahead with our architect and builder for the build out of our new office space. We hope it will be complete by the end of April. Please pray for all the details of our construction project: Materials, schedule, no cost overruns, permits, etc., etc.

Please pray that God would raise up an assistant for me in Costa Rica who is particularly capable in IT.

Trusting God in the hard times

Dear Friends,

Greetings from San José, Costa Rica!

After a wonderful time in Portland with our family (well part of them anyway) for Christmas and New Year’s we headed to Norfolk, Virginia for the birth of our beautiful new granddaughter, Rebekah Joy Burgin. We arrived Saturday night and she arrived Sunday afternoon! Our timing couldn't have been better. We were able to spend the next 4 days getting to know her and just being with Stephen, Rachael and Leah as they welcomed little Rebekah to their family. Here I am with Rebekah:

We have been back in Costa Rica for 10 days now and are adjusting to getting back to real life. Ron is in full swing with the final plans on our new office space for Campus Crusade Latin America. He has been meeting with the owners of the building and with a lawyer to finalize the lease agreement as well as with the architect who is designing the interior space. There are lots of legal things to learn in setting up an office in a foreign country but Ron is on top of it all! Here he is in the unfinished office space:

Our return here has brought with it some challenges for me (Jeanie) as well. Many of you know that in October I slipped on some spilled water on a tile floor just after teaching my ESL class and injured my lower back. In Oregon I received a diagnosis of a sprained back and began physical therapy. I had been making some progress and experiencing some relief from the pain. However, after returning here the pain became so intense that I really could not walk as each step brought excruciating pain. Monday we made the decision to seek medical help by going to an Orthopedic/Spinal specialist here in San José. The Lord led us to a wonderful doctor who gave us lots of his time an answered all of our questions. He has prescribed medication to get the pain under control and then additional physical therapy with a therapist that he works closely with to monitor progress. He feels like with the physical therapy that surgery may not be necessary. The surgery option will be visited again in 6 weeks. Please pray with us for the following requests.

· That the pain will be under control soon.

· That the physical therapy will be effective

· That surgery will not be necessary

· That I will be able to travel to Panama for a ministry conference in February and to DC in mid-March for the birth of our 7th grandchild!

· That the Lord will give me a positive attitude and hope in the midst of pain and suffering.

During these days the Lord has been speaking to me through His word about trusting in Him in the midst of circumstances beyond my control. I have never had to deal with extreme physical pain before and it has been very difficult for me to be hopeful and to trust that God has a purpose in everything he allows in our lives even when they make no sense to us. Just this morning in the One Year Bible passage for today He spoke to me in the account of Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14. Here are a few things He used to encourage me this morning.

· In the midst of the storm Jesus said, "Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid." 

· Peter immediately wanted to go to Jesus and when Jesus said "Come" Peter responded with great faith by getting out of the boat and momentarily walking on the water.

· But then he takes his eyes off Jesus and places them again on the circumstances and he sinks.

· Peter's immediate response is to cry out to Jesus, “Lord save me!"

· Immediately Jesus reaches out his hand and caught Peter. "You of little faith," Jesus said, "Why did you doubt me?"

· Then when Peter was safely in the boat WITH Jesus the storm calmed down and the response of all the disciples was, "Truly you are the Son of God!"

Matthew 14 closes with these words that give me hope for today. "And all who touched Him were healed." Whether or not I am physically healed from this back issue, my prayer is that I will keep my eyes on Jesus and get back in the boat with Him and stay there!

Thanks for your prayers,
Jeanie

October Update from Jeanie

Greetings from San Jose!

We can hardly believe that we have been here in Costa Rica a little over 8 months!! In many ways it seems like yesterday that we arrived and in others it seems like we have been here forever! So much has happened and we are finally beginning to see God open up doors of ministry for us here. We miss our friends in Bolivia but know we are right where God has called us and each day brings new opportunities to be an influence for Jesus to those around us. Here is just a short update on our lives here.

Travel: Our position on the Leadership Team for Latin America/Caribbean requires travel, especially for Ron, to various countries in our area to encourage our staff but also to training conferences to be better equipped to assist our staff. This past month he attended a 10 day conference in Turkey for Operations Leaders of Campus Crusade from around the world. He came away encouraged about how he can come alongside our staff and help them be more effective. Then the next trip was to Germany for a training in crisis management with Campus Crusade leaders around the world. While he was gone I was able to spend a few days in Norfolk, VA with our son and his precious family. We are now ready to stay home for a while!!

New Area Office: Ron is in the process of setting up an office location to serve our ministries in 25 countries. That requires meeting with lawyers to set things up correctly as well as finding a location and equipping it with all the necessary things to be a fully functioning office for our leadership team. We will be glad to move the office from our bedroom to its new location!!

The Gathering Place: The Gathering Place is the name for a new church plant here in San Jose that we are privileged to be in on the ground floor. Ron is an elder in the new church and now leading the small group ministry and writing the materials for our groups each week. Our target group to reach is Costa Ricans who want to improve their English or already speak English fairly well. There are many here that fall into those categories who are seeking answers to spiritual issues and the church is growing!

ESL (Teaching English): Through the contact of another missionary we have become involved in an ESL ministry each Wednesday evening. The leaders of this ministry are helping us learn how to use English classes to reach Costa Ricans with the Gospel. Our ultimate goal is to multiply this ministry to our new church, The Gathering Place. We have been averaging about 90 students each week. We are leading the Beginning level and have about 25-30 students in our section. This is fun and I am learning so much!

GAP Students: The lead pastor of the Gathering Place is also the Bible teacher for a ministry to young people (age 18-25) who want to take a GAP year between High School graduation or mid-college to have a year away in another culture to focus on language study, Bible and Missions. These students are also part of our new church plant. This ministry is a fantastic training for our future missionaries! I (Jeanie) am leading a small group of girls each week as part of this program. I love being with them each week and influencing them in missions and their walk with Christ. These students are also using the small group material that Ron is writing for our new church.

Family update: Our kids and their families are all doing great! Stephen and Rachael are expecting baby #2 the first week of January and all is going well. They are adjusting well to their new life in Norfolk, VA and Stephen loves his job as Assistant Professor of Science Education at Old Dominion University. We are proud of Dr. Burgin. Leah loves her new school and she is so precious!

Patty and Luke and their 2 precious little girls are in Camden SC where Luke continues to serve on the staff at Malvern Hill Baptist Church and Patty is a happy mom at home with her little girls.

Sarah and Dustin are in DC and enjoying their life on “The Hill”. They are expecting another baby boy in March to join almost 5 year old Wesley and almost 3 year old Cooper! They are open for any suggestions for boy names!

Andrew is almost mid-way through his Sophomore year at the University of Florida and enjoying his business classes and being involved in the music ministry at his church and also Campus Crusade, not to mention rooting for the Florida Gators every chance he gets!

Christmas 2012: We are so excited to be in Oregon for the month of December. Andrew will be joining us there for his Semester break. We will be planning a meeting for our friends and supporters during that time. Specific details will follow within the next month.

We are so grateful to each of you for the part you play in making it possible for us to serve here with this ministry. We know that giving is a sacrifice and we do not take it for granted.

Thank you so much,

Ron and Jeanie

September 2012

Ron and Jeanie Burgin
Campus Crusade for Christ, Latin America and the Caribbean

September 17, 2012

Dear Friends,

Hi from San Jose! I hope you are well and beginning to settle into the fall routine in the USA. There are special things we miss at every time of the year, but we always think fondly of warm Indian summer days in the beautiful Northwest.

Last June when I wrote, Jeanie and I were settled into our new home in Costa Rica. My job as Operations Director for CCC Latin America was going well, but we were wondering how God could possibly use us personally here in San Jose. After many years of exciting ministry and great relationships in Bolivia, we were feeling a little lost.

What a difference a couple of months can make! God is really beginning to answer our prayers in significant ways. In fact, we will soon have to begin prioritizing our opportunities!

The Gathering Place

Jeanie and I are on the leadership team of a new English Language church plant here in the city. There are thousands of Ticos (Costa Ricans) who speak English, and are very interested in any opportunity to practice. This gives us an opportunity to invite them to church, when they may not otherwise darken the door of a Spanish speaking congregation. Tomorrow we are setting up tables in front of a Call Center with coffee and snacks and an invitation to church. There are call centers all over San Jose with thousands of Ticos taking customer service calls from the USA (I know…)

One of our missionaries from the Gathering Place is a young Tico named Jairo (left) who ministers to poor kids just a few miles from our home with sports and after school programs. We will be partnering with Jairo in a few weeks to show the Story of Jesus for Children, giving the kids a clear opportunity to receive Christ and begin a discipleship process.

AMCA House

We met another missionary couple here in San Jose who runs a ministry called AMCA House. One of their outreaches is an ESL program that meets every Wednesday evening. Jeanie and I did a similar activity in Bolivia. We will be teaching the beginning level course. Last night at our first meeting there were more than 50 people. We have total freedom to share our faith and to invite folks to church.

Alianza

Last May I met the leaders of the Federacion Alianza Evangelica Costarricense (the national association of Evangelicals in Costa Rica). These pastors took on the responsibility of hosting Josh McDowell in August, inviting 700 pastors and leaders in their network to come hear Josh. Through that contact, many other opportunities are opening up. I preached in a couple of their churches. Now we are exploring the possibility of a formal partnership to use the JESUS Film to plant new churches. Some of the older pastors remember the JESUS Film back in the days of 16mm film projectors, but there is a whole new generation of pastors ministering to young people and adults who may know very little about the life of Jesus, or why they would need a Savior. With the JESUS Film, they learn about his life, teaching, death on the cross, resurrection and invitation to eternal life. We are trusting God for great things!

This will be a month of a lot of travel for Jeanie and me, but it is exciting to begin putting down some roots in our new home country. Thank you so much for praying for us!

Your missionaries in Costa Rica,

Ron and Jeanie

Prayer requests:

· Our residency visas are in the final stages of processing. Pray that the visas will come through by the end of October.

· Pray for our daughter Sarah and daughter-in-law Rachael. Both are expecting babies in early 2013.

· Pray for our contacts with Costa Rican pastors, that God would open the doors to partnership with the JESUS Film.

· Jeanie has been experiencing a lot of pain down her right leg. We will be in Portland in December and the doctor appointment is already on the calendar. Pray that God will bring healing.

· Pray for Jeanie as she continues her Spanish tutoring. She is really showing progress and increasing confidence.

· Pray for me (Ron) as a give leadership to the CRU leaders around the continent.

Stephen Burgin, Ph.D.!

Ron and Jeanie Burgin
Campus Crusade for Christ, Latin America and the Caribbean
http://burgin-costarica.blogspot.com/

Dear Friend,

Greetings from Gainesville, Florida. We pray that God is blessing you abundantly this summer! We want to give you a brief update on our life, ministry and family.

Quick trip to the USA for graduation

We are in Gainesville, Florida this weekend for our son Stephen’s fourth graduation from the University of Florida. He has earned a Ph.D. in Science Education. Stephen with his wife, Rachael and daughter, Leah Rose, have already moved to Norfolk, Virginia where he has accepted a post as Assistant Professor in the Department of STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) at Old Dominion University. I guess we’re pretty proud! We’ll be heading up to Norfolk tomorrow for a family reunion with all of our children and grandchildren, then back to Costa Rica next week. Please pray for Stephen, Rachael and Leah as they adapt to a new city and job.

Gathering Place

Getting adjusted to life in Costa Rica has been tougher than we expected. God is now opening doors that are cause for encouragement. We are part of the leadership team of the Gathering Place, an English Language church plant in San Jose, Costa Rica. Our target audience is Costa Rican young professionals and university students who are interested in English. The number of English speakers in Costa Rica has come as a real surprise to me. To give you an idea, there is an ATT call center near our home with more than 500 employees who take customer service calls in English from the US. Please pray for Marlon and Silvia, a young couple we are trying to get to know better and involve them in the church. Silvia works at the call center.

Spanish tutoring

Jeanie has been studying at the Spanish Language Institute three days a week to improve her Spanish conversational ability. After nine years in Bolivia, most of it teaching in an English language mission school, she is motivated to get up to speed. Some days she comes home encouraged, some days she comes home saying Spanish is impossible J . Please pray for Jeanie as she continues her study.

Travel

As Operations Director for CCC, Latin America, I continue to travel to the countries of our region to audit, train and encourage our staff. In the past month, I have been to Venezuela and to Barranquilla, Colombia where I worked with our staff following a national Congreso of more than 500 university students. They returned to their homes all over Colombia motivated to multiply the impact of the Gospel on their campuses. Pray for our national leaders as I work help coach and mentor them.

We are so thankful for our team of supporters who have upheld us in prayer through this year of transition to a new country. We sense God’s comfort and encouragement. We, in turn, pray that our gracious heavenly Father will continue to minister to you and your family as He builds us into the image of Christ.

Your missionaries in Latin America,

Ron and Jeanie

June Update

Learning globally

Last week I was in Orlando for a meeting of our Global Team, consisting of the leadership teams from all 13 of our areas around the world, as well as the Global leadership team. We were working toward a unified vision and mission as we focus on 2020. What an amazing time of praise and worship, planning and vision as we work together, trusting God for great things.

Dela Adadevoh, our Global VP for Leadership

Lots of travel

In just the last six weeks, I have been in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, and Panama, meeting with staff, doing an audit, training accountants, and helping to build capacity in our national ministries. (Jeanie says explain that. Okay :) Build capacity means to create financial, measurement, and communications systems that can handle our ministries when God multiplies our ministries and disciples by tenfold). I will be in Venezuela working with our operations team the second week of July. Then on to Colombia the week of July 23. What great people I have the privilege to serve!

MINISTERING LOCALLY

It seems like it has taken a long time, but we are beginning to see how God wants to use us here in Costa Rica. Josh McDowell, a well-known speaker and author with Cru, is in the midst of a Latin America tour called “The Naked Truth”. He is equipping pastors and youth leaders to confront our culture in the area of love, sex and dating.

We were coming down to the wire here in San Jose with no sponsor and no place for the event. I was asked to take the lead. It has been a great experience recruiting and working with our key sponsor, la Federacion Alianza Evangelica Costarricense, the national association of evangelical churches. This week we finalized arrangements with the church in downtown San Jose which will host the event on August 18. They are praying for 700 pastors and youth leaders to attend. Please pray that these leaders use what they learn to impact thousands of young people throughout Costa Rica.

Out of that working relationship has come a friendship with one of the key pastors of the alliance and an opportunity to preach this Sunday at his church in one of the poor areas of San Jose.

Jeanie and I have been praying about our own church involvement, and I have been invited to serve as an elder in a new church plant in the area called Guadalupe. It is an English speaking church targeting young professionals and students who speak English. We are very excited about the vision and the opportunity to serve this new growing church.

The Guadalupe Gathering Place

 

We are glad to be the “older couple” who bring wisdom and experience into the mix. Please pray that many will come to Christ and many new disciples will be built at the Guadalupe Gathering Place.

Jeanie is progressing since surgery on her retina 10 days ago, though not as quickly as we would have hoped. She is still seeing the flashes of light that caused the visit to the doctor in the first place. Please pray with us for complete healing.

Well, my bags are UNpacked, and I’m done going…

Greetings from San Jose! Jeanie and I are back home together after an intense, but very fulfilling 30 days of travel: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Buenos Aires, Argentina and Orlando. Why so many trips in so short a time? I ask myself that question.

My position as Operations Director for CCC Latin America and the Caribbean involves serving all of our national ministries and strategies. We help to train in financial management, leading with information, and measuring results.

In Rio, I joined a meeting of 50 of our top student ministry leaders. These young leaders are all full time missionaries with Campus Crusade and serve in national ministries throughout our region. They were attending a special equipping conference to be able to build movements of evangelism and discipleship. Here we are at the largest university in Rio meeting with the students:

In Santa Cruz, I felt right at home. We haven’t been back to Bolivia since we moved away last August and it was great to reconnect with some old friends. I attended a conference of our Global Church Movements staff from throughout the continent. They were there to help define our role in the growing global movement of church planting. They worked through philosophy of ministry questions, training curricula for church planters and strategies to connect with other mission organizations and denominations to extend the Kingdom of God. The JESUS Film continues to be a key tool and our unique contribution to the global effort. Jeanie and I spent a few days in Orlando right after this conference to be equipped as trainers in our new church planting curriculum.

Last week I was in Buenos Aires working with our finance staff. Argentina has one of our largest ministries with hundreds (thousands?) of students involved. Their financial systems, however, are firmly stuck in the 20th century. I was there to help them clean up their systems and get ready for some new cloud-based systems that will give our leaders around the country instant access to crucial financial information that will help them to make good ministry decisions.

I got home on Saturday and we are enjoying another week with Andrew and his girlfriend, Anna. Andy just finished his freshman year at the University of Florida. Here's a picture of Jeanie with Andrew and Anna.

That’s a real brief tour of what we’ve been up to the last month. We’re still struggling to find our place in ministry here in Costa Rica. I guess it would help if we stayed home for a month or so! Seriously, our biggest prayer request is that God would lead us to just the right ministry connections where we would be able to use our gifts to minister to others and where we would be ministered to as well.

Thanks for standing with us! May God continue to bless you,

Ron